We have many reasons to invest in preschool programs, including persistent gaps in school readiness between children from poorer and wealthier families, large increases in maternal employment over the past several decades, and the rapid brain development that preschool-age children experience. But what do we know about preschool education's…

Using data ("n" = 3,790 with 2,119 in the 3-year-old cohort and 1,671 in the 4-year-old cohort) from 353 Head Start centers in the Head Start Impact Study, the only large-scale randomized experiment in Head Start history, this article examined the impact of Head Start on children's cognitive and parent-reported social-behavioral outcomes…

This study examined the prevalence and determinants of spanking of children at 3?years of age and the associations between spanking and externalizing behaviour and receptive verbal ability at age 5?years. Overall, we find maternal spanking rates of 55.2% and paternal rates of 43.2% at age 3?years. Mothers facing greater stress and those who…

The federal Early Head Start (EHS) program began in 1995, and a randomized trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 17 EHS programs. In all, 3,001 low-income families (35% African American, 24% Hispanic, and 37% White) with a pregnant women or an infant under the age of 12 months were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group (with…

We used longitudinal data from a birth cohort study, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, to investigate the links between Head Start and school readiness in a large and diverse sample of urban children at age 5 (N = 2,803; 18 cities). We found that Head Start attendance was associated with enhanced cognitive ability and social…

This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of spanking and verbal punishment in 2,573 low-income White, African American, and Mexican American toddlers at ages 1, 2, and 3. Both spanking and verbal punishment varied by maternal race/ethnicity. Child fussiness at age 1 predicted spanking and verbal punishment at all 3 ages.…

Jane Waldfogel, Terry-Ann Craigie, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn review recent studies that use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) to examine why children who grow up in single-mother and cohabiting families fare worse than children born into married-couple households. They also present findings from their own new research.…

Using data from the first 2 phases of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, the authors examine the links between maternal employment in the first 12 months of life and cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes for children at age 3, at age 4.5, and in first grade. Drawing on theory and prior research from developmental psychology as well as…

Few studies of parenting have considered the possibility that the association between one parent's supportive parenting and a child's early cognition is moderated by the other parent's supportiveness. We test this proposition using a low-income sample of coresident couples. In addition, we cross-classify parents within couples according to their…

The employment rate for mothers with young children has increased dramatically over the past 25 years. Estimating the effects of maternal employment on children's development is challenged by selection bias and the missing data endemic to most policy research. To address these issues, this study uses propensity score matching and multiple…

Examined mothers' patterns of welfare receipt in the 3 years following birth of a child. Found strong negative associations between receiving welfare and parenting behavior and child outcomes at age three. Parenting by mothers who had left welfare by their child's third birthday was more likely to be authoritarian if mother had left public…

This study examined the social labels which are first used by infants, social differentiation on the basis of labeling behavior, and overgeneralization of social labels. Subjects were 81 infants from 9 to 36 months of age. The 9- to 24-month-olds were shown slides of themselves, their mothers, their fathers, and unfamiliar children, babies, and…

Investigated developmental patterns of cognitive performance over first 3 years of life in sample of 762 low birthweight premature children. Intelligence test scores were obtained at 12, 24, and 36 months adjusted age. Five developmental patterns were identified. Results reveal patterns of cognitive development can be discriminated by three…

Secondary analyses indicated that maternal employment in children's first year had detrimental effects on cognitive and behavioral development. Grandmother care was beneficial for the cognitive development of children in poverty. For behavioral development, mother care was beneficial for boys and babysitter care for girls. (BC)

Compared low-birthweight infants who participated in an intervention involving educational and family support services during the first three years of life with low-birthweight infants who received pediatric follow-up. Intervention group infants scored higher on cognitive tests and lower on measures of behavior problems at 24 and 36 months than…